St. John's man shows up in court for wrong trial

A St. John's man showed in up in provincial court for what he thought was his trial, but witnesses said although he has the same name as the man who allegedly threatened them — he was not the person who did the deed.

Sean Frampton, 23, was charged with uttering threats and obstruction of justice after a February incident involving Douglas Connors and his son Shane.

The two men said a man they were told was Sean Frampton had threatened to stab them unless they dropped charges against another man they had also charged with threatening them.

Wednesday in court, Sean Frampton confirmed his identity to Crown prosecutor Lloyd Strickland, but Connors said Frampton was not the man who threatened them back this past winter. 

"The guy who approached us, he was a lot bigger," said Connors. "Then the guy when he left, the other guy came around the corner and I said, 'Who's that?', and he said 'Sean Frampton', and that's what we took it as."

Frampton familiar with justice system 

It turned out that Frampton's lawyer Tim O'Brien hadn't laid eyes on Frampton, spoken with him by phone or discussed the case with him until both of them showed up in court on Wednesday. 

As for Frampton, he said police just showed up at his door one day and charged him with obstruction.

Frampton already had a criminal record, including breaching court orders, failing to show up in court, and a conviction for theft. 

O'Brien asked that the trial be postponed, and the Crown agreed, telling the court there was a new development.

Police have not said whether they charged the wrong man, but they did say they are looking into the situation.